The present invention generally relates to knob safety devices, and more particularly relates to a knob safety assembly for preventing children from activating a cooking element.
A common concern among parents is preventing children from playing with hazardous household items such as cooking devices, electrical outlets, and cupboard contents to prevent children from exposing themselves to potentially harmful conditions. Although electrical outlets and cupboards may be positioned to be out of reach of children, cooking devices, such as a stove, are generally low to the ground and easily reachable, and are therefore of particular concern. Numerous prior art safety devices for cooking devices have been proposed; however, many of the prior art devices have proven easily circumvented or cumbersome to use. One of the better prior art devices is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,150. However, the device of the '150 patent must be removed in order for the knob to be actuated, and then replaced when done, which has proven less than desirable in some situations. As such, there remains a need for alternative designs of stove knob safety devices.